Essential clicks 01

RA bookmarks the best features, opinions, websites and videos out there in the electronic music community. This week: Lego parties, livecoding, behind the scenes at the DEMF�

It’s not all about shaking your ass at clubs, there’s also staring at your computer. Each Thursday RA bookmarks links best features, opinions, websites and videos out there in the electronic music community. This is what caught our eye this week:

Death in Detroit: DJ and producer Aaron Carl’s blog would be fascinating anyway because he writes well and, unlike a lot of musician’s websites, it’s up close and personal. But it’s also pretty shocking – people keep dying in it. First there was his April 11 entry which begins “Yesterday I received some terrible news. My cousin Sharee was shot and killed by her husband. He then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide…” Jesus. Our thoughts go out to you and your family, Aaron-Carl. But it gets worse: last week Aaron-Carl found out that he’d died himself. Such is life in Detroit I guess. After a car accident, he came home to find his friends all gathered for the funeral party, candles lit, his music playing softly in the background and letters of condolence in his inbox. Rest in peace, Aaron. And keep on jacking.

Behind the scenes at the DEMF: Still on a Motor City tip, the Beatz by the Pound dance column at Stylus Magazine has published an eye-opening account of one man’s quest to volunteer for the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. The anonymous writer's lowdown: the organisation was shoddy and the promoters seemed to have gone out of their way to hire the nastiest staff possible. The public perception that the trouble-plagued festival went off without a hitch this year takes a bit of a drubbing in the review which is cunningly titled 'The 3-Day Paxa Hau-To Guide to Becoming a Paxa-Ho.'

Block parties: Club competition is hotting up in Legoland. If you were a little plastic man and you wanted to go raving, at first your choices were limited to superclubbing at The Brick Rave. Those in the know could check out DeeJay Bricks & the Brix Breakers who take it back to the old school with mad turntable skillz but RA's favorite so far is the Dutch and gabbariffic The Oh Lego on You Tube, which has clocked 735,860 views and counting...

Peek in the studio: One for the gear geeks. American electronic music rag XLR8R profiles the Get Physical stable in its June edition and it's available to read online. The interviews with Booka Shade, M.A.N.D.Y, Chelonis R. Jones and DJ T. are okay - there's a rundown of Booka Shade's early history which includes topping the charts writing and producing for girl group No Angels - but what really gets RA’s motor running is a list of Booka’s favorite studio techniques and software. All the hats on ‘Mandarine Girl’ were done on a Minimoog softsynth!

Computer love: So you wanna be a DJ? Better brush up your wpms not your bpms as it looks like typing is the new beatmatching. An article in Wired magazine this month reveals a new form of DJing taking off in London known as livecoding where programmers frantically write scripts of code that generate sounds and musical motifs in front of a audience. Livecoder and art student explains the concept: "By describing a musical idea in code, we're describing it at a higher level than if we're entering notes into a sequencer. I've tried sequencers and found it a slow, difficult, maddening way of doing music. There's an atmosphere of musicians being subservient to software. It really limits the kind of music that can be made." [via Metro]

Panzer division: Punk techno troublemaker T. Raumschmiere is most known for spicing up his DJ sets with stage dives off the speaker stacks and his 2003 schaffel hit Monstertruckdriver. Turns out he's a bit of a gamer, too. Those with lots of time on your hands might want to polish up your mindless clicking skills because highest score after July 9 on the cute shoot ‘em up game on his website wins a T.R survival pack (music, t-shirts, posters etc). The game itself is pretty goofy – looks like he coded it himself. [via energylab.de]

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Transmission ends. If you have any interesting links that you think might fit here (no promo spam please, we beg you), post them in the forum or send them to us at info (at) residentadvisor.net with the subject line 'Essential Clicks'.

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More on Aaron-Carl

His unique ability to cross over between styles like vocal house and hard-hitting electrofunk has made Aaron Carl one of the most interesting recording artists from Detroit. Impossible to pigeonhole, his discography features a wide variety of styles -..
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